Democratic Security: An Anthology

This report has been produced within a research project titled Democracy and its antagonists and is a partial account of ongoing work at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI). The report is a social science-based overview and analysis of threats and challenges against democracy. Its key themes are the critical assets of democracy; the conditions under which these assets can be attacked and harmed; and the ways in which an improved understanding of this dynamic can be operationalized in order to strengthen society's democratic defences. The report is an anthology with independent chapters authored by colleagues working within a range of social scientific disciplines. These chapters discuss democracy and threats to democracy; trust; corruption and organised crime; and conspiratorial narratives and political violence. The report also presents and discusses the concept Democratic Security, which has been developed within the project as a model for conceptualizing the critical assets of democracy. The environment within which these assets are attacked and defended is understood as a multidimensional interface zone where traditional tools of security policy may be ineffective or counterproductive. It is suggested that these perspectives require a comprehensive approach within which both the critical assets and the threats are seen interconnected. The perspectives, concepts and models presented in the report are intended as a basis for further discussion in the academic and practitioner communities, and among the interested general public.